Ok - don't laugh....when I put sprinkles on the side of a cake, my floor is a disaster afterwards...BUT, I kind of throw them on in small spurts...you can also gently pat them on from the palm of your hand...Just be prepared to clean up the counter and the floor when you're done! I had a heck of a time with my tire cake - choc icing COVERED in black jimmies...good thing I love the kid I made it for! haha!Also - if you are using BC, I'd put them on before it crusts. They won't really stick otherwise. Good luck!

yes buttercream is what I would use.i would recommend you put your sprinkles on before it crust(the icing hardens).if you have one do it over the top of a cooling rack with a cookie sheet under it to catch the sprinkles.

Ok, I don't know if this will work or not, but I saw it on TV. They frosted just the sides of the cake then flipped it on it's side and rolled the cake in the sprinkles.. (they had a cookie sheet that they covered in sprinkles). Set the cake up and frosted the top, viola !

Like I said, I personally haven't tried it but they said you can do the same with coconut, nuts, choc chips, etc...

(Whenever I've done a coconut cake I use the aforementioned throwing it at the cakes and hoping some sticks because I always forget and frost the whole darn cake before I remember that trick!)

I hold the cake in one hand and then put whatever you want to crust the sides with (sprinkes, nuts, cookie crumbs, etc) in a large bowl (large enough to catch all the excess) or sheet pan. Then hold the cake on an angle over the pan/bowl, and gently press handfuls onto the side of the cake, letting the excess fall down. Just turn the cake in your hand as you work your way around. Once you get used to this technique it goes really fast and it's the most efficient (and least messy) way to do it, I think.

I like to spread the sprinkles on a cookie sheet. Then hold the cake at an angle in one hand, and put the sprinkles on with the other hand. The excess will fall back on the cookies sheet. Make sure the cake is freshly iced, so the sprinkles will stick.Once finished, just put the sprinkles back in the bag or container they were in (making sure you take out any icing that might have gotten mixed in)